Garvock House, Dunning Historic Building Recording

Historic Building Recording was undertaken in specific locations that were the subject of an application for Listed Building Consent. The record was put in context by general photography of the exterior and a review of historic maps and documents. Garvcok House as its stands today can be dated to 1825 by a date stone and historic documents. It represents an enlargement of an earlier building thought to date to the mid 18th century. The remaining 18th century wing which had stood at the rear of the 19th century block was demolished in the late 1970's. Very limited traces of this can be seen in the fabric of the upstanding building. A house set within wooded grounds and approached by tree lined avenues is depicted on Roys Military Survey. It would seem likely that this building represents the now demolished 18th century house. The current building consists of the main house which faces north-east and an attached range of auxiliary buildings at the rear. Prior to our survey it was thought that the range of rubble buildings to the rear of the main house may represent the remains of an early structure, or at least include elements of an earlier building in the form of the arched windows. Evidence obtained from the study of maps and historic documents combined with the historic building survey indicates that the buildings are also 19th century in date and partly appear older due to poorer quality masonry work. This is exaggerated by the failure of a gutter on the north-west elevation which has washed out much of the pointing and caused the face of the stone to erode. On close inspection the arched windows exhibit the same tooling as those on the main house and is typical of 19th century buildings. The map evidence shows elaborate gardens and a glass house to the south-west of the auxiliary buildings. Therefore these building were most likely originally built as garden buildings with the arched window details added to offset the elaborate gardens. When the house and grounds changed to an agricultural use these rear buildings were adapted to be functional farm buildings, including the addition of a first-floor hayloft at the south end. The map evidence and earlier descriptions of the buildings also support this interpretation. The main house retains many early 19th century details and has only undergone minor alterations. The only remaining physical evidence of the 18th century building is a chimney breast visible on the exterior wall where the earlier building was abutted. There are however historic images and written descriptions of the earlier building which provide information on the internal and external appearance of the earlier house.